Thoughts:
On the face of it, Family Trust by Kathy Wang is a family drama about rich people. Like many of those books, I find myself rolling my eyes at rich people’s issues having to do mainly with first world problems. I imagine there must be people like that out there, ones that nothing is ever good enough and a dream job for most of us is considered a failure.

If one digs a bit deeper into the book, you will find a portrait of second generation Americans who are constantly pushed to attain great achievements. Nothing is ever good enough, your school is not good unless you go to an Ivy League school, your salary is never enough unless you are one of the top earners in the world, the company you work for better be a kick-ass one.

Then there are the expectations: marriage, children, faux happiness, not letting others in your community know of any issues. The characters in this book work through the problems they’re having, sometimes figuring out what to do or even if they want to solve these issues. And sometimes they realize these issues are so materialistic or superficial they don’t even actually matter.

This book tells a great story of intricate lives and family dynamics which rapidly change. The insight into the Asian-American community is informative as well as eye-opening.

Synopsis:
Stanley Huang has claimed for years that he is very rich. Now that he has pancreatic cancer his family wants details of his fortune to be revealed. Stanley’s son, Fred, is disappointed from his professional career. Kate, the daughter, is stuck in middle management at Silicon Valley.

Linda and Mary, Stanley’s first and second wives, are also looking out for themselves and maybe even for Stanley.